University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Wrestling Falls in Season Finale to Edinboro, 19-17
2/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Wrestling Falls in Season Finale to Edinboro, 19-17
2/18/2005
EDINBORO, Pa.-Pittsburgh dropped a 19-17 decision to host Edinboro in its final dual meet of the season, just missing out on a chance to claim its first Eastern Wrestling League dual title. The Panthers finished the season 4-2 in EWL meets, tying Bloomsburg for second place behind champion West Virginia, which won the title with a 4-1-1 mark with a 27-13 win over Cleveland State on Friday evening.
Pittsburgh (8-7, 4-2 EWL) won five of the 10 bouts on Friday night but lost out in the bonus points race by a 4-2 count for the difference in the match. Freshman Zach Bowman (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) started it out with a 3-0 decision over Greg Sill at 125 pounds for his eighth victory this season.
The Fighting Scots (9-5-1, 3-2-1 EWL) came back at 133 pounds when the nation's top-ranked grappler, Shawn Bunch, got a 20-5 technical fall over sophomore Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) for a total of five points. Pitt regained the lead at 7-5 when junior Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) scored a 16-8 major decision over Rick McLaughlin for his 23rd win of the season. Edinboro kept the see-saw battle going with a 7-2 decision by Ron Doppelheuer over Pitt junior Mike Ciotti (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) at 149 pounds.
Pitt took its third lead of the evening with a decision by 20th-ranked Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) over Matt Hill of the Fighting Scots. Kocher won his team-best 28th match by a slim 3-2 score but gave the Panthers a 10-8 lead in the match.
Edinboro made it 12-10 in its favor with a major decision by 11th-ranked Nate Yetzer over Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) at 165 pounds. Yetzer won the bout by a final count of 17-6 and Edinboro grabbed the largest lead by either team with another major decision by Eric Ring over Zachariah Doll (Quakertown, Pa./The Hill School) at 174 pounds.
Pittsburgh was able to score seven points in the next two bouts, however, to regain the lead again at 17-16. Sophomore Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) remained unbeaten at 184 pounds with a 15-6 major decision victory over Jim Gibson and freshman Lou Thomas (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) with a 6-3 decision at 197 pounds.
In the final bout of the evening, Edinboro heavyweight Joe Hennis outlasted Pittsburgh freshman Zach Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) by a 10-7 count to give the Fighting Scots the final two-point margin.
The Panthers will next compete at the Eastern Wrestling League Championships at Clarion University on Saturday-Sunday, March 5-6 at Tippin Gymnasium.
